Undergrads: The Sophomore Year
by KTF Xfox
Summary: Continuing the adventures of Nitz, Cal, Rocko, Gimpy and the rest of the Undergrads gang. Rated R for language.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, fanfic fans! KTF/Xfox here again. This time around I'm attempting an Undergrads story. Enjoy!

* * *

Introduction

"Boy does it feel good to be home." Nitz took a running jump and landed with a thud on his old bed. He threw his hat with a flick of the wrist and it landed on his nightstand. 'It's like I never left' he thought to himself. 'But things sure have gotten complicated since the last time I've been in this room.'

"Parker! Parker! Do you need help unpacking?" His mother practically forced the door open.

"No mom. I'm a big boy now. I can unpack alllll by myself now." Nitz didn't exactly like his real name, which is probably why he always hated when anyone called him by it. And why he wasn't in the mood to deal with an overbearing mother right now.

"Parker, dear. You still never told me why Jesse wasn't there when we came to get you. I was dying to meet her. I thought you were good friends."

"Mmmm..." Nitz gave off one of his trademark slightly annoyed grunts. He rolled over onto his side and faced the wall. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

His mother threw her hands up. "Alright honey. Though I did want to tell you that your brother has some news that he's been dying to tell you, but he wanted to tell you face to face."

"Is that so?" Nitz's brother was a year younger than him and basically was a mama's boy like he was before college. "Where is he now?"

"I'll go get him, dear." Nitz's mother scurried out of the room.

Nitz felt bad because he and his brother sort of drifted apart when college came about. 'I wonder what's so big he has to tell me face to face.'

"Nitz!" A thin younger version of Nitz kicked open the door. He was wearing a T-shirt with a flannel shirt draped over it and a pair of dusty blue jeans.

"Jay! How's my little brother doing?"

"I'm as ecstatic as can be!"

Nitz chuckled a little. "I can see that. So what's the big news you got for me?"

Jay stood with his arms at his sides, as if announcing something as Superman. "I'm going to State U!"

Nitz fell off the bed and landed with a crash. "Wh-what did you say?"

"Oh stop being so melodramatic. I'm going to State U next semester! Isn't that great?"

"Well, yeah. But...why?"

"OK, so mom sorta talked me into it. I guess she doesn't want her sons to move far far away. So how are Cal and the gang?"

"Oh, they're...yeah."

Jay narrowed his eyes. "Oh I see. You don't want to be seen with your uncool brother."

"No, it's just...a lot has happened the past few days. There's just a lot of information to process. Really, I'm happy for you."

"Mmmmhmmm. Well, whatever the case, it's great to see you."

"Likewise."

Jay left the room and closed the door behind him.

Nitz sat up on the floor against his bed and looked up at the ceiling. "Great. One more thing to worry about."

* * *

"Look, dude. It's a simple decision. Who has the hottest bod? The tightest ass? The biggest rack?"

"Rocko. It's not as simple as all that." Nitz bounced a super ball against the wall of his room. "Kimmy was all I thought about freshman year. I finally get her, but now all of a sudden Jesse made it known that she...AAAAAHHHH!" He slammed the ball against his dresser, making it bounce wildly about the room. "I'm just frustrated with everything right now. And now I find out that my younger brother is going to State U in the fall."

"Who, Jay? That's cool."

Nitz rolled his eyes. "I don't know. Sometimes he tries too hard to fit in. I'm afraid he'll just make an ass of himself."

Cal stood up. "Say, guy. Why can't you have both nice ladies? Sometimes I have two ladies, but it's usually more."

"That's nice, Cal." Nitz resumed talking. "Anyway, I want to call up Jesse to apologize. Do you think I should?"

Gimpy's face appeared in a window on the computer sitting on his desk. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's seeing a girl making a fellow man weak."

"Come on Gimpy. Well, guys?"

"What was the question, guy?"

"The girl is the enemy!"

"Hmmm....two ladies."

"I can always turn to you guys for advice."

* * *

The clock struck eight and Nitz just stared into the cell phone in his hand. 'Who do I call? Kimmy or Jesse?' He started to dial a number then closed the phone shut. 'What do I do?' He looked over at his dresser and fixed his eyes on the picture of Kimmy he kept for three years. Letting out a big sigh, he pressed the buttons on his phone and held it up to his ear.

"Hi! How are you doing?" After a slight pause, Nitz clutched his head and let his words out slowly. "So what do you say? Would you like to go out this weekend?"

* * *

This chapter was intentionally short, mainly to introduce Jay and give a little bit of info before getting into sophomore year. I'll try to be quick with the updates, but there's no promises. Later, UG fans!

-KTf/Xfox


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

"Well, bro. This is it! State U in all its...I wanna say glory, but..."

Nitz stood with his brother outside Chilton Hall, suitcases and duffel bags in hand. "This is where we'll be staying for the next nine months."

Jay surveyed the area and spotted a small group of people sitting in a circle. "Hey, Nitz! Do you know them? Can we go talk to them?"

"Uh, sure." Nitz recognized them as the resident potheads, but they were harmless. The two walked up to the group. "Hey guys, how's it goin'?"

The one with a huge nose wearing the baseball cap backwards stood up. "Hey, man. Nice to see you again. Uh...what was your name again? Barry? Harry?"

"Nitz."

"No, that wasn't it."

Jay's eyes darted around, trying to take in what was going on. "Huh, it's kinda smoky over here." Then he noticed one of them lighting up a joint and he stumbled back in horror. "My god, you're smoking marijuana!"

"Sure am! Want a hit?"

Jay shook his head and hid behind Nitz. "Can we go now?"

"But I haven't even introduced you yet."

Jay stepped forward a bit. "Hi, I'm Jay, Nitz's brother. Well, we better get going. Bye!" He took off towards the doors of Chilton Hall.

"Dude, is he OK?"

"Yeah, I think he's just used to a sheltered life. I'll catch you later, guys."

"Later, dude!"

Nitz took off as fast as he could carrying three bags at once. "Jay, wait up!"

* * *

"Wow, I'm surprised any of those guys made it to sophomore year."

"Nitz, please tell me you don't do that."

"What? You mean smoke pot? Of course not! I don't even drink, remember?"

Jay slouched next to his stack of luggage.

"Jay, you're gonna need to lighten up. Our supervision is basically the Douggler and Cal. Things are a bit different from living with mom and dad."

"Yeah, I guess. It's just something I need to get used to."

Nitz shook his head and helped Jay up. "Let's just get to our rooms."

* * *

"Room 405, this is it." When Nitz opened the door to his dorm room he heard fingers typing away at a keyboard. "Um, hello?"

The typing continued and Nitz ambled through the doorway. He saw a short man with long messy black hair and a suit. His eyes were bloodshot from staring at the computer screen and a large cup of coffee was nearby.

Nitz dropped his bags on the unused bed and tapped his roommate on the shoulder. "Hello?"

He swiveled his chair around, his expression one of annoyance. "Yes, hello. My name is Zack. It appears we'll be roommates, no?" He held out his hand.

Nitz reluctantly shook his hand. "Hey there, Zack. I'm Nitz. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

Zack turned his chair back around and typed away. "Not really, no. I'm just getting a head start on this essay for Mr. Lin's class."

"Classes don't even start until next week. How could you already know what you'll be doing?"

"Oh, I have an idea. By the way, I hope you have a computer of your own because I never let anyone use mine."

Nitz sat down on his bed. "Well, I'd say we're off to a great start."

Suddenly, a very long repeated knocking came to the door. "Don't worry, I'll get it." Nitz stood up and opened the door to find Jay behind it. "Jay? Something up?"

"My roommate smells."

Nitz blinked a few times. "And?"

"AND? I can't room with someone who likely hasn't bathed since the turn of the century! What do I do?"

Nitz sat Jay next to him on the bed. "Here's what you do. Get a giant hose, wait until he's asleep and then blast him with it."

"Hose, in his sleep, got it!" Jay got up, oblivious to Nitz's joke.

Nitz grabbed Jay's arm and shook his head. "No, goofball. I was making a joke. It's just something you'll have to endure for now."

"Oh. Kinda like you having to endure Cal's slurping noises?"

"Yeah, kinda."

Jay suddenly noticed Zack in the room. "Hi!"

Zack didn't answer and kept typing.

* * *

Jay and Nitz started roaming around the campus, saying hi to everyone who had been around.

"Why does it seem like meeting people for you is like pulling teeth?"

Jay looked down at the ground and began fidgeting. "I don't know. I'm just not comfortable, OK?"

"Well, I'm not gonna hang out with you all semester."

"Why not?"

"Well...I have my own circle of friends. Don't worry, you'll eventually have your own circle." Nitz started giving Jay a noogie. "You can start with your roommate."

"Yuck! Well, he's probably no worse than yours."

"Yeah, I guess so..." Nitz stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's the matter, Nitz?" Jay noticed Nitz staring off and focused in on a girl getting out of a car.

It was Jesse, but she looked startlingly different. Her hair was still dyed purple, but it was much longer, falling off her shoulders in long strands. She was wearing a red halter top and baggy jeans, and her exposed belly button was pierced. Not yet noticing the duo staring at her, she grabbed some boxes out of the trunk of her car and walked towards the dorms.

"Nitz? Who was that?"

Without saying a word, Nitz ran at full speed towards Jesse. He skidded to a stop in front of Chilton Hall's front doors. "Jesse?"

Peeking off to the side of her boxes, she gave him a slight smile. "Nitz. Hi. Um...you're kind of in my way."

"Oh, sorry." Nitz blushed intensely and stepped to the side, nearly slamming into the outer wall. "You're looking...great."

"Um...thanks." A few seconds of awkward silence passed. "I...need to get these inside, Nitz."

"Hold on a sec. There's someone I want you to meet." Nitz suddenly realized he left Jay by himself. He smacked his forehead and ran off. "I'll go get him, just stay right there."

Jesse dropped her stuff to the ground and rolled her eyes. "Here I go, dropping what I'm doing for Nitz again."

Nitz came back with Jay, who seemed utterly petrified upon seeing Jesse.

"Jesse, this is my brother Jay."

They shook hands. "Hi, Jay. I don't know what Nitz told you about me, but..."

"NITZ!!!"

The conversation was interrupted by a loud, shrill voice. Everyone looked around, confused until a familiar redhead came up and hugged Nitz, and then kissed him on the lips.

"Kimmy, how lovely to see you again." Jesse started picking up her boxes as fast as she could. "Well, you know what they say. Three's a crowd."

"But there's four of us here." Kimmy replied in her usual bubbleheaded manner.

"Yeah, well...whatever." Jesse kicked open the doors and hurried inside.

Nitz was a little shaken by what just happened, as it transpired so quickly. "Kimmy, you're here. It's great to see you." Peering inside, he saw Jesse practically push one of the freshmen aside as she disappeared up the stairs. "And...um...I'd like you to meet my brother Jay."

"Jay! So nice to finally meet you. How are you doing? Are you going to join any clubs? Oh my god, you look just like Nitz! Anyway, Nitz sweetie, could you help me unpack my things?"

Jay had a quizzical expression on his face while she talked and merely watched as Kimmy dragged Nitz out of sight. "What just happened?"

* * *

"FUCKING KIMMY BURTON!" Jesse threw her boxes onto the bed of her dorm room and pounded the walls. "WHY THE FUCK DID SHE HAVE TO SHOW UP RIGHT THEN??!!" She kept pounding on the walls, until she ran out of energy and fell into a heap on the floor. She laid there for a few minutes and then sat up looking into her hands, which were bruised and bloody. Balling them into fists, she stood back up and walked into the bathroom. She turned on the water in the sink and stuck her hands in. "Ow! Great, and I have to carry the rest of my stuff in."

* * *

Ah yes, the eternal question. Kimmy or Jesse? I'll make sure to put Cal, Rocko and Gimpy in the next chapter. Later, UG fans!

-KTF/Xfox


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

"Rocko, how on Earth did you manage to stay at your fraternity?"

"Hey, you know. I just turned on the charm and boom, I get to stay."

Nitz shook his head. "Charm? You?"

"Shut up. Now if you don't mind I'm gonna return to looking at porn." Rocko grabbed a magazine and began leafing through it.

Nitz got up from his bed and looked out the window. "Where's Cal? I told him we'd be hanging out in my room."

"Why do you want to hang out with that wad again so soon? You already spent enough time with him as your roommate last year."

"Come on, Rocko. It's the clique. Friends forever, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Less talk, more looking at porn."

Nitz sneered in his direction. He went to sit back down, but a knock came to the door. "That'll likely be Cal."

"Hey former roomie guy, how's it going" Cal walked in with the usual cheesy grin on his face. "I would have been here sooner, but the work of an RA comes first."

Rocko yelled out from the corner. "You mean you weren't banging some chick?"

"Well, yeah. Isn't that what I said, guy?"

Nitz sat back down on his bed. "Man, I missed hanging out with you guys here at college."

"Dude. We hung out all the time back home."

"Yeah, but it's a different atmosphere here. All we need is Gimpy and the clique is back in full swing."

A sudden loud knock came to the door and Nitz nearly fell off his bed in shock. When he opened the door, his brother was standing there, grinning as wide as he could muster.

"Jay? What's up?"

"Nothing. What are you guys up to?"

"Just hanging out."

"Cool, can I join you?" Without hesitation, Jay shot into the room.

"Jay, hold up..."

"What the fuck's going on?" Zack had just walked into the doorway, holding a laptop under his arm and smoking a cigarette. "There better not be any partying going on. I need to study."

"Isn't that what you were just doing?"

Zack walked up to Nitz, looking very agitated. "No, I was researching, smart-ass. Now if you don't mind keeping it down..." He set his laptop down and sat down at his computer. "Hey, why's my computer on? And why is there a porn site up?" He shot a glance around, but everyone had already high-tailed it out.

* * *

The four escapees managed to find a free table at the cafeteria, laughing and bad-mouthing Nitz's roommate.

"Man, could the school have given you more of an uptight wad of a roommate?" Rocko uttered through mouthfuls of french fries. "Didn't classes just start for you guys?"

"Yeah. Someone needs to loosen him up before the end of the year."

"So Nitz, have you talked to Jesse yet?" The normally quiet Jay suddenly spoke up, stopping the conversation cold for a few seconds.

"Jay?"

"Nothing, never mind." Jay stood up and walked back to the cafeteria line.

Nitz let out a sigh. "Good, let's talk about something else."

"Hold up, Nitz." Rocko interjected. "I'd like to know what's up."

"Me too, guy."

Nitz put a hand to his forehead. "Look, guys. I've had a crush on Kimmy forever. I'm staying with her. Besides, Jesse still is kinda mad at me."

"Dude. The way you described how she looked. Maybe she did it to get your attention."

"Nah. She wouldn't do that." Out of the corner of his eye, Nitz noticed Jesse walking into the cafeteria and talking with Brody and Kruger. Her hair was falling off her shoulders and she was wearing a similar outfit from when he saw her last. "Would she?"

"I'll ask her, guy. HEY JESSE LADY!"

Nitz put a hand over Cal's mouth. "Cal, what are you doing?"

Jesse waved to everyone, said something to Brody and Kruger and walked up. "Well, if it isn't the clan of dorks. Rocko, Cal."

"Meh." Rocko seemed more interested in devouring his food.

"Hi, lady! Nitz wants to know if..."

"NO CAL!" Nitz looked over at Jesse and started to blush.

Jesse tilted her head to the side and grinned. "OK, what's this all about?"

"No, seriously. It's nothing. Really."

Jesse 's grin began to shrink. "Well, if it's nothing, I suppose I'll go."

"Um, OK."

Jesse hesitated a bit, but eventually turned around and walked to the end of the cafeteria line where Brody and Kruger were.

A french fry hit Nitz in the head. "Hey! Rocko!"

"What?"

"OK, so I have feelings for Jesse, are you happy?"

"Huh? I was just throwing french fries."

Back in line, Jesse eyeballed the table she just left.

"That fucker still gets to you?"

"Shut up, Kruger. We're not talking about it. Brody, talk about your next script or something."

"Oh, I'm glad you mentioned it. I see it as a cross between The Godfather and Weekend at Bernie's..."

Kruger nudged Brody with his elbow and shook his head. They noticed Jesse still looking off at Nitz's table.

* * *

"Ahhhhhh, just smell that fresh air." Gimpy inhaled deeply and spread his arms out.

"Sir, the air in here is stagnant and a bit nauseating to tell you the truth." Mump clutched his head.

"Fool! This is the room of a shut-in. What did you expect? Flowers?"

"Perhaps one of those potpourri scented plug-ins would do this room good."

"Hmmm...duly noted." Gimpy sat down at his wall of computers and started typing away.

"Sir, it's too bad we couldn't afford that offshore oil derrick like we wanted."

"Yeah, well. What do our parents know? Stupid meddling..." Gimpy trailed off and tapped away at his keyboard some more.

Mump stood awkwardly by as Gimpy sat silent, save for the keys clacking. "Sir? Um...what are you doing?"

Gimpy twirled around, twiddling his thumbs and staring off into a corner of the room. "In short, fellow Tekerson student, I am out of practice."

"OK...out of practice of what?"

"That's...none of your concern." Gimpy swiveled his chair back and returned to typing.

"Come on, sir. You can tell me. Maybe I can help."

Gimpy stopped typing and merely tapped his fingers off to the side. "I don't think so. It's a personal matter."

"Alright sir. I'll just be on my way. We're still on for Star Wars Monopoly tonight?"

"Mmmf. Fnehh." Gimpy waved him away and resumed his typing. Mump waddled off and Gimpy stared into his computer, as if looking directly at someone. "She Prime. Wherever you are, I will find you. And I will take you down."

Nitz's face loomed large on the computer screen.

"Ahhhh!" Gimpy jerked back in his chair. "Nitz?"

"Hey, Gimpy. How did the move back into the dorms go?"

"Long but necessary. There's no time for me to dilly-dally, Nitz. I am on a mission of grave importance."

"Sounds epic. What mission is that?"

"A mission of truth. A mission of hope. A mission of setting all that is wrong right again."

"You're going after She Prime, aren't you?"

"Of course."

"Well, when you're done setting all that is wrong right again, a bunch of us are going out for pizza. I hope you'll come."

"Oh. OK, sure."

"Be at Papa Joe's by seven. See ya." Nitz disappeared from the screen.

* * *

Papa Joe's was packed with students from State U, Tekerson Tech, and of course Rocko.

Gimpy scratched his head when he approached Nitz. "Heh. I hope you don't mind I invited everyone at Tekerson to join us. And it looks like most of them came."

"Don't worry about it. Glad you could make it. This is a rare occasion indeed! Though, I don't know if there's anywhere to sit." Nitz surveyed the area, noticing Cal surrounded by tons of girls and Rocko half-drunk with his face laying in one of the pizza boxes. "Oh, wait. There's a seat over by that girl."

"What girl?"

Nitz pointed to a girl in the far corner with a hooded sweatshirt quietly eating while everyone else was mingling. "Oh wait, never mind. You don't want to associate with girls."

"Ah, what won't kill me will only make me stronger, right?"

Nitz shook his head. "I'll talk to you later." He watched Gimpy walk away and then felt someone hugging him from behind. "Kimmy?"

"How did you know?"

Nitz turned around and they both kissed, hearing several whoops from the peanut gallery. "Yeah, yeah. Just eat your pizza! Kimmy, I thought you had a thing tonight."

"I did. But when the police broke up the protest, it ended much earlier than I would have liked. So, here I am."

"Police? Well, I'm glad you're OK."

"And since I'm free tonight, do you want to..." Kimmy whispered into his ear and he froze.

"K-K-Kimmy. I really should stick around and talk to everyone. You see Gimpy just got here and...OK." Nitz grabbed Kimmy by the hand and headed for the door, only to find Jesse walking in and not looking too pleased.

Meanwhile, Gimpy had sat down across from the girl with the hooded sweatshirt. She dropped the slice of pizza she was holding onto the table and started stammering. "Wh-wh-what do you want?"

"Calm down. There wasn't anywhere to sit except here." Gimpy, rather rudely, stuck his hand into the pizza that was in front of her and grabbed a slice.

"Must you be here?"

"Get used to it." Gimpy scraped off all the cheese and ate it, tossing the dough portion into the box.

"You know, you're more annoying than Hayden Christensen in Episode II."

Gimpy stood up and pointed a finger inches from her nose. "Do not bad-mouth Star Wars ever again. It is the greatest movie series of all time. George Lucas had his reasons for hiring him."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you really believe that?"

Gimpy's finger wavered and he sat down in a heap. "Of course not. The name of Star Wars has been sullied forever." He raised a fist at the ceiling. "Damn you, Lucas!"

"Jesse! H-Hi" Back with Nitz, he awkwardly said hello and stood around.

"Nitz." Jesse stood with her hands in her pocket and wouldn't say anything more.

"Well, come on in, Jesse. There's pizza for everyone."

"Were you two just leaving?"

"No! Of course not! We barely just got started! Kimmy and I were just going outside for a minute."

Kimmy gave him a weird look. "Oh. Yeah."

"Well don't let me stop you."

This time, Kimmy grabbed Nitz by the hand and dragged him out the door. Nitz just looked back at Jesse until they disappeared around the corner.

Jesse merely sighed, finding herself standing next to Rocko who was making bubbles in the cheese.

"Jesse, what's up?" Gimpy walked up to her, grinning uncharacteristically.

"Gimpy, what a rare treat to find you out of your element for once." She noticed a girl standing beside him. "And with a girl too? This can't be the same Gimpy I knew."

"This is Carrie. We are both in a state of denial of the current Star Wars movies and therefore will only acknowledge the original three as ever to have existed."

"Is that so? Nice to meet you, Carrie."

"Same here."

Gimpy interjected. "We're off to discuss all the discrepancies of Episode I online. Later."

"Later, Gimpy." Jesse watched the two of them leave and stood next to Rocko again. "So Rocko, where's your date?"

"Wha?" Rocko lifted his head up, completely covered in cheese. "Didja say sumthin?"

Jesse winced and began to back away. "Never mind, Rocko. I think I'm just going to leave." She swiftly headed for the door. "Maybe I better just find Nitz and say goodbye. I don't even know why I came." When she stepped outside, she noticed it had begun to drizzle. "I bet he and Kimmy just left anyway."

She suddenly heard someone by the back of the pizza joint. When she turned to look, there wasn't anyone in view. "Please let that be anyone but Nitz and Kimmy." She circled around and peered around the corner only to find what she feared. Nitz and Kimmy were making out in the back of Papa Joe's. She quickly withdrew her head and just stood there for a minute to get her bearings. The rain started to pour down harder and she looked up into it, slowly walking away and contemplating what to do.

"I need a drink."

* * *

I'm glad a few of you are actually reading this. Undergrads fans are few and far between. Later, UG fans!

-KTF/Xfox


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jesse awoke to the clanging of pots and pans in the kitchen of her dorm room. "Mai. Keep it down. I've got a hangover." She turned over and pulled the sheets over her head.

A tall, long-haired Japanese girl entered Jesse's room. "It's noon, Jesse. Get up already."

"It's Saturday. I can stay here if I want."

"What the hell did you do last night? I thought you just went to get some pizza."

"Kinda, yeah. Then I went to a bar."

Mai shook her head . "What would cause you to drink so much? We haven't even had midterms yet."

Jesse let out a sigh and didn't answer.

"Well, fine. I can always get lunch on campus. I won't disturb you any longer."

"No, it's OK." Jesse sat up, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. "If I don't tell someone, I'll probably explode."

* * *

"Sir? Where were you last night? We were all awaiting your appearance for our Star Wars Monopoly tournament."

"Huh?" Gimpy looked over at Mump. "Star Wars Monopoly?...Oh that! I was out having pizza with Carr...I mean Nitz. Yeah, Nitz."

Mump raised an eyebrow at him. "All night? What were you doing?"

"Um..." Gimpy quickly started typing incoherently on his computer. "I'm a little behind on attaining the whereabouts of She Prime so I can't talk now."

"She Prime? That's your big personal matter you wouldn't let me help with?"

Gimpy slapped his forehead. "Doh! Look, Mump. It's not that I think you can't help. Wait...that may be true, but I can not go on knowing a girl beat me at anything. There are some lines that should never be crossed."

"May I ask you something, sir?"

"Of course."

"What will you do when you find her? Are you going to go gaga over her again?"

"Gaga? That was...that was only a front."

"Is this all truly about revenge?"

"Yes, of course it is! What other reason would I be trying to find her again?"

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps you're putting on a front now."

Gimpy stood up in anger. "Do you want to be demoted to Ewok status? Go! Get out of my sight, underling!"

Mump frowned at Gimpy and left his room, shutting the door behind him.

Gimpy slumped back in his chair and clutched his head. "Why am I yelling at him?" He fumbled around his room looking for his cell phone. When he found it, he frantically pushed the buttons on it.

* * *

"Nitz! Phone's for you." Zack tossed the phone toward him and Nitz had barely enough time to grab it before it hit his face.

Nitz would have scowled at him but Zack was engrossed with some assignment he was typing up. "Hi. Nitz here...Gimpy? Where did you go last night?...You mean that girl at the pizza place? Gimpy, you sly dog you...Come over? Right now? Well, no I'm not busy but...Bring Cal? Sure, I suppose...Would you stop hyperventilating. You're overreacting...Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye."

Nitz was about to put the phone back on its base when it rang again. Startled, he put the phone to his ear. "Hello?...Jay, what is it now?...Well, just tell your roommate not to use them...He doesn't have any of his own?...Look, Jay. I'm on my way out the door...Visiting Gimpy...Sure. Fine. You can come along...No, don't mention it...No I don't know what happened to Jesse last night...I'll find out...Yeah, I'll come get you. Don't worry...Bye."

Nitz raced over to put the phone down but it rang once again. He sighed and talked into the receiver. "Hello?...Kimmy!...Yeah, I had fun last night too...You're going to be gone this weekend?...No, I knew you had these obligations when we started going out...No, don't worry about me. I'll just hang out with the guys...Yeah, I'll miss you too...Bye."

Nitz nearly collapsed when he hung up the phone. Within two seconds, the phone rang again. Nitz grabbed his jacket and raced out the door shouting to Zack. "I'm not here!"

* * *

"Gimpy, what's this all about?"

"I'm telling you Nitz, you gotta help me. I don't know what's going on anymore." Gimpy grabbed at Nitz's jacket.

Nitz backed away and nearly fell over his brother, who was hovering behind him. "Just what happened last night?"

"I don't know, Nitz. But, I tell you, I didn't not enjoy it."

"So you had a fun time with a girl. What's so bad about that?"

Gimpy came up to him with a panicked look in his eye, grabbing his jacket again. "That's just it! They're the enemy! I'm not supposed to have fun with the enemy." He brought his hand out as if acknowledging someone. "We discussed Star Wars all night. We told jokes. I even...smiled."

"Gimpy. It just means you're growing out of this ridiculous phase of yours."

"Ridiculous! I'll tell you what's ridiculous. Fraternizing with the enemy. That's what's ridiculous!"

Cal walked in between the two of them. "Hey, Gimpy guy. There's a lot to like about women. They're soft. They're curvy. And they'll let you have sex with them. All the time."

Nitz rolled his eyes. "Cal. There's more to women than just their bodies."

"Hmmm...Are you sure, guy? I can't think of anything else."

The conversation stopped cold for a minute and Nitz spoke back up. "Look, Gimpy. You're a nerd. No offense."

"None taken."

"Would you call this Carrie girl a nerd?"

Gimpy thought for a minute. "Well, yeah. I suppose."

"So don't think of her as a girl. Just think of her as a fellow nerd."

Gimpy stroked at his chin, contemplating what Nitz said. "Yeah. I can go with that logic."

"Good!" Nitz patted Gimpy on the back. "Glad we could help you out."

* * *

Nitz, Cal and Jay were returning back to Chilton Hall fairly quietly until Jay spoke up. "Yeah, huh."

The other two stopped and Nitz spoke up. "Jay, what was that?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just glad to hang out with you guys for a bit."

"Yeah, Nitz's brother guy." Cal ruffled his hair. "It's like we have another Nitz to talk to."

When they hit the front of the building, Nitz waved to the other two. "Well, guys. I'll catch you later. I'm gonna visit Jesse."

"Later, guy!"

Jay grabbed Nitz's elbow. "Can I come with you?"

"You want to visit Jesse? Why?"

Jay darted his eyes around trying to think of something to say.

Nitz looked at him funny. "Well, OK then. Let's go visit Jesse."

* * *

Jesse was still lying around in bed when she heard someone knocking at the door. "Who could that be? Mai? Could you get that?"

"Sure, sure." When Mai opened the door, she didn't recognize the duo. "Um, hello?"

"Oh, hi. I'm Nitz and this is my brother Jay. Is Jesse here?"

Mai looked a bit shocked. "You're Nitz?"

"Um...yeah." Nitz looked around still awaiting a reply to his question. "Is Jesse here?"

Mai snapped back to reality. "Oh, sorry. Yeah, she's still kinda in bed."

"In bed? But it's like 1:30 in the afternoon."

"Well, she was out drinking last night."

"Drinking? Really? Is she OK?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Mai stepped aside to let Nitz by.

Nitz very carefully walked by Mai. Jay almost did too, but Mai grabbed his arm. "Hey, Jay. Come with me to the kitchen."

"What?" Jay watched as Nitz disappeared out of sight.

Jesse shouted from her bed. "Mai? Who's at the door?"

"Just me."

Jesse's eyes shot open and she sat up to find Nitz standing next to her bed with his hands in his pocket. "Nitz!" She pulled the covers over herself. "Nitz, I'm not even fully dressed. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was wondering what happened to you last night. You left almost immediately."

"I wasn't very hungry."

"Your roommate said you were out drinking."

Jesse silently cursed Mai's name and she peeked out from underneath her covers. "Maybe. So what if I was?"

"OK, OK, you don't have to give me an explanation to why you got drunk last night." Nitz sat down on the floor next to Jesse's bed. "But why did you leave Papa Joe's so early?"

"I said I wasn't very hungry."

"But you could have stuck around to talk, right?"

"With Kimmy hanging off your arm?"

Nitz knew where this was headed. "Well, she is my girlfriend."

"Yeah, I could clearly see that last night."

Nitz stood up. "Jesse, we were friends all through freshman year. Why does it have to change now that I have a girlfriend?"

"Are you listening to yourself? It's a lot more complicated than being friends now." She got up out of bed and walked over to him. "At least that's what I hoped."

Nitz noticed that Jesse may have been wearing a shirt, but she was only wearing panties down below. Trying in vain not to look down, he focused on her face. Her hair was extremely mussed up, but it still was beautiful. "Jesse, I don't know what you want me to say."

Jesse went up and wrapped her arms around Nitz. "I know. You've had a crush on Kimmy for years. I've barely been in your life for one."

Nitz looked Jesse directly in her eyes. Jesse felt a bit uncomfortable now and retreated back to her bed. "Well, whatever. Thank you for your concern, but I'm OK. Now if you don't mind, I still don't feel very good."

"Huh?...but..."

"I'm sure Kimmy's waiting for you or something."

Nitz shook his head and was about to exit her room when he stopped to say something. "She's actually out of town for the weekend." Nitz waited for her to say something, but when she didn't he turned back around to leave. "Bye, Jesse. Let's go, Jay."

"Huh? Um, OK. Bye, Mai."

* * *

"Nitz. You've gotta cheer up. And I know just the thing. Strip club."

"Rocko, I don't think I should."

"Man, you're such a wet blanket. What, there some third chick wanting to get in your pants we don't know about?"

"Um, no."

"Then we're going. Come on." Rocko was already out the door but Nitz merely laid back down on his bed.

"Nitz, let's go!" Rocko reentered the doorway. "Are you tellin' me you don't wanna see some titties?"

"Rocko, I think I'm just going to stay in tonight."

"Fine, but I'm taking someone with me." Rocko steadily walked past Nitz and grabbed Zack by the arm. "You're coming with me to a strip club, brown-noser."

Zack struggled to break free to no avail. "But I have to finish the third draft of my thesis! If I don't do it now, I won't have time to proofread it!"

As Nitz watched them disappear from sight, he laid down and stared at the ceiling. After a few minutes, he realized how bored he was becoming. "Maybe I should go do something. Keep my mind off current events." He sat at his computer and instant messaged Gimpy. "Gimpy? Are you there?"

Twenty seconds passed with no reply. "Gimpy?" Still no reply.

"He's never out. What's going on?" Nitz tried calling his phone number.

"Hi. You have reached Gimpy. Seeing as how I am not in my room, hell has apparently frozen over. Leave your message at the beep."

Nitz hung up the phone. "Wow, he must be hanging out with Carrie. I'll try Cal."

"Hi. This is Cal. I'm currently entertaining ladies. I like ladies. Leave your message at the..."

Nitz quickly hung up. "Should have known. Do I dare call Jay?" He dialed one last time.

An angry voiced accompanied the other line. "Hello? Is this Papa Joe's? Where's my pizza?"

"Um, hello?"

"Who is this?"

"It's Nitz, Jay's brother. Is he there?"

"Not until I get my pizza." The person on the other end, presumably Jay's roommate, hung up.

"What the...?" Feeling completely drained, Nitz fell onto his bed and the receiver slipped out of his hands onto the floor. "I guess I'll just stare at the ceiling for a while."

* * *

Just a side note- This is my first story ever where I incorporated original characters into the mix of my fanfic. What seemes easy enough is really tough. I'm still trying to work out the kinks of Jay, Zack and now Mai's personality traits. I hope they're believable as characters. Later, UG fans!

-KTF a.k.a. Xfox


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Carrie finished off her soda and tossed the empty can at the nearby trash can. "Gimpy, what would you like to do tonight?"

Gimpy looked around Papa Joe's, trying to spot someone he recognized. "Hmm?"

"Are you listening to me?" She tossed a piece of crust at his head, which didn't seem to faze him at all.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just...thinking."

"OK, fine. I'll change the subject. Christmas vacation is almost here. Are you going home?"

"I don't know. I hadn't thought about it. What about you?"

"Oh, I don't know. I thought I'd just stick around campus. My family is pretty far away. I thought maybe..." Carrie started playing with one of the crushed pepper packets, pouring it out all over her plate.

"What? You want me to stay here? I suppose so. It'll help me catch up on my fake Episode III script website."

Carrie just rolled her eyes. "Come over here." She patted her hand on the booth seat.

"But I'm fine here."

Carrie sighed. "Yeah, whatever."

* * *

"You're going to AFRICA?" 

"Now Nitz. It's for a worthy cause."

"But it's vacation. Christmas vacation. Emphasis on vacation. Besides, I was hoping you would come with me."

"I'm sorry Nitz. But I'm leaving tomorrow night."

"TOMORROW? Kimmy, you can't!"

"I won't have time to see you tonight. So, I'll see you when I get back, right?"

Nitz felt his head begin to throb. "Yeah, sure."

"I'll miss you, Nitz. Bye!" Kimmy had already hung up the phone before he could reply.

Nitz put the phone down. "See me when she gets back? She barely does when she's here." He looked over at Zack who was engrossed in a paper he was typing up. "Don't you have anything better to do? We'll be on vacation in a few days."

Zack swiveled his chair around. "Hey don't snap at me just 'cause you got girlfriend troubles."

"All you ever do is type, type, type. You can't possibly need to be working all the time."

"Hey!" Zack pointed right at Nitz. "I'm just dedicated to school is all."

"You're getting straight As. Take a break for once in your life."

"I happen to be doing it for a reason, but I doubt someone like you would understand."

Nitz crossed his arms. "Try me."

Zack turned back to his computer. "Just forget it."

"Look, Zack. I'm not trying to start a fight. You need to relax. Let's go to the student lounge. Play a game or something."

"No. I...I'd rather work on this." Zack resumed his typing.

"Have you hung out with anyone at all this semester? Friends? Acquaintances? Anyone?"

Zack stopped typing. "Nitz, just go. I'm sure you have better things to do than berate my lifestyle."

"That's not..." Nitz grabbed a jacket and headed for the door. "Fine. I'll go."

* * *

"Now if I just decipher this string of code, I may just be able to..." Gimpy heard a knock on his door and scrambled to shut off all his computers. "C-come in." 

Mump entered with a depressed look on his face.

"Oh. It's only you, Mump." Gimpy turned on his computers and typed away. "I was afraid it might be Carr...somebody else."

"Sir? Where have you been these past few months? You don't seem to be around hardly at all. I would think it's normal college behavior if it weren't for the fact that practically all of us are shut-ins."

"I've just been hanging out with a fellow classmate a little more is all."

"Oh! Well, how come you never introduced him to me?"

Gimpy turned around and tried to think of the exact words to say. "Well, it's not quite..." Suddenly, a flashing window appeared on Gimpy's computer. He quickly turned his eyes to it.

"Mump, you're not going to believe this."

"What is it, sir?"

Gimpy grinned and evil grin and held his hands together. "She Prime is located somewhere in this building."

* * *

"This world has gone crazy, I tell ya!" Rocko threw up his hands and slammed them down on the table. "How did Gimpy get a girlfriend and I can't get one? Even when I pay them." 

"Ah, come on, Rocko. Can't you be happy for Gimpy? He's done so much to avoid the opposite sex and here he is finally starting to grow up."

"Nitz, if a nerd like that can get a girlfriend, how does that make me look?"

"It's not a competition, Rocko. Besides, Cal would have us beat, easy."

Rocko pouted in his chair. "Yeah, well. I just think it's time I got some." He looked over at Nitz. "Hey, how come you're not hanging out with your girl? We'll be on vacation soon."

"Oh, she's off doing something in Africa or something." Nitz waved his hands around in utter indifference.

"Dude, she's never around."

"I know. At first it was just one of her quirks. But now...I don't know."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"I seriously don't know." Nitz slumped into his chair. "Kimmy was all I thought about through high school. It's like some kind of dream that she actually is going out with me. But when reality hit, it's like I don't exist to her anymore."

"So what you've gotta ask is your dream girl still your dream girl?"

Nitz rubbed his temple and truly pondered that question.

* * *

"OK, Mump. I've checked the school's records and there's only thirty female students here at Tekerson Tech." 

"How do you suggest we narrow down the search?"

"We'll have to hack into each student's files and check for any sort of anomalies. I better get start..."

The sudden loud knock on the door made both Mump and Gimpy jump back. "Gimpy? Are you there? Can I come in?" It was Carrie.

"Sir? Why is a girl requesting entrance to your room?"

Gimpy quickly shut down his computers. "Um...she's the...fellow classmate I was telling you about."

Mump looked down at the floor. "I don't even know you any more, sir."

"Hello?" Carrie knocked on the door again.

"Just a minute!" Gimpy shouted out. "Mump, honestly. It's not what it looks like. She's nothing more than a fellow nerd."

"Well I suppose I should leave you alone with your friend." Mump opened the door and sped past Carrie.

"Huh? Gimpy? Who was that?"

Gimpy stood up and directed Carrie inside. "Heh, just a friend of mine."

"Oh. Hey, why are your computers turned off? I thought you would have them on 24/7."

"Well, um...I just...let's get out of here."

"Um, OK."

* * *

"Brody, stop it." 

"What?" Brody leaned against the library's shelves. "Jesse, I'm just telling you what I heard."

Jesse rifled through the stacks, trying to find a particular book. "I said stop it."

"I'm trying to help. Don't you still have a thing for Nitz?"

Jesse scanned the shelf in front of her without looking at Brody. "I can't Brody, and let's just leave it at that."

"Maybe I should repeat what I said. Kimmy's off in Africa somewhere for two weeks. It's the perfect time to make good with Nitz."

Jesse took a book from the shelf and waved it in Brody's face. "I don't care how far on the other side of the world she is. Nitz still loves that ditz." She looked down at the book. "Hey, this is the one I was looking for."

"Weren't you the one that told me you changed your looks to try and get his attention?"

This time, she smacked Brody in the chest with the book. "You asshole, I told you that in confidence. You want someone to overhear?"

"Ow! I know. But you've got a few days before vacation. You should at least talk to him."

"We'll see."

"I'm meeting Kruger in a few. You wanna come?"

"Nah. I've got work to do. Just say hi for me."

"Will do. Take it easy."

"You too." Jesse watched as Brody turned the corner and exited the building. "What would I say to him anyway?" She went over to the copiers and started copying pages out of the book she got and tried not to think about Nitz. When she was done with the copier, she looked up and saw a familiar face.

"Jay?"

"Huh?" Jay had been at a table reading some manga and tried to hide it from view when she saw Jesse walking over. "J-Jesse?"

She sat down across from him and smiled when she saw him trying to hide his reading material. "What's up? You know, I don't think we've ever really talked that much."

"No." Jay sat stiffly and looked just about everywhere but at Jesse. "So...uh...how are you?"

"I'm good. Just finishing up a few things before the semester's over. Are you...heh...researching?"

Jay turned bright red. "I...I'm just here because I can't stand my roommate. So I just come here to be alone."

"Aw, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. I was just teasing."

"Well, it's OK, I guess." Jay finally looked at Jesse and then down at the floor.

"So...um...how's Nitz doing?"

"He's bummed about Kimmy. She's off for a benefit in Africa."

"So I've heard."

"Yeah. And he's been really depressed."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. I think he was hoping they would finally be able to spend some time together with vacation coming up."

"So they haven't been spending much time together?"

"Oh, shit!" Jay covered his mouth. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. Nitz would probably kill me if he found out I was talking my mouth off."

"Ah, then I better be off."

"Um, alright."

Jesse got up and walked over to Jay. "Nice to finally talk to you." She ruffled his hair and returned to the stacks.

"Yeah. Talk..." Jay couldn't help but grin stupidly.

* * *

"Funny you should take me out for coffee. You don't seem the type." 

"Are you kidding?" Gimpy raised his cup above his head. "With the exception of Jolt cola, it's the greatest drink creation ever made."

Carrie shifted on the couch in the coffee shop to face Gimpy, swirling what was left of her coffee in her cup. "You know, I'm really glad you're staying here for Christmas break."

Gimpy finished off his drink and stood up. "Well, we should really get back. It's getting late." He didn't even manage to step forward as Carrie pulled him back down to the couch. "What?"

"Why do you always do this?"

"Do what?"

Carrie sighed. "What are you, an idiot? What do you think?"

Gimpy looked at her, trying to figure it out. "Is there something wrong with two friends hanging out?"

"You ARE an idiot. You're a fucking idiot." She got up and headed out the door in a huff.

"Carrie!" He chased after her and caught her a block away from the shop. "Come on, what's this about?" When she looked up, he noticed how pale she had become.

"What am I to you?"

"Huh?"

"I said..." She began to pound on his chest. "WHAT AM I TO YOU?"

Gimpy stood taking the hits like a man and after a minute grabbed her arms. "I'm sorry. I didn't know..." He then slipped his arms around her in an embrace. "I didn't know. I am an idiot."

"No, stop it Gimpy." Carrie pushed him away and walked blindly down the sidewalk, bumping into passers-by.

"Carrie!" He ran after her again, questions popping up in his head. "Carrie! What do I have to say to make you stop?"

"Nothing!" She picked up her pace and began running away from Gimpy.

"Shit. I'm no athlete." Gimpy started to run after her, but couldn't keep up. He let out a yell. "I SAID I WAS SORRY!" When he saw her disappear from sight he kicked a nearby lamppost. "Ow."

* * *

"Zack, I'm leaving." 

Zack merely sat at his desk, not looking up.

"I'm headed home for break. I'll see you later."

Zack didn't say a word and Nitz shook his head. He headed out the door with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Without warning he bumped right into Jesse.

"J-Jesse? What are you doing here?"

She backed up a few steps. "Hi Nitz. I sorta heard about Kimmy. I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For what? She's just going to be gone for a few weeks. I'll see her when she gets back."

Jesse squinted at him, trying to figure out if he really meant it. "Well, still it must be a bummer."

"Sure I was hoping we'd spend some time together but..." He suddenly grabbed at his head. "I...gotta go." He staggered away and down the hall.

"Nitz? Wait!" She caught up to him at the front door and grabbed his arm. "What was that all about?"

"I'm not happy, OK?" Nitz looked over at Jesse, trying to hold in any emotions. "Or more specifically, I'm not happy about the relationship with my dream girl."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

* * *

Gimpy rapped repeatedly on Carrie's dorm room door. "Carrie! Let me in! Or at least say something!" He placed his ear against her door. After a minute of hearing nothing, he sighed out heavily. 

"Carrie, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings in any way. I'm pretty new to this whole girlfriend thing. Hanging out with you always put me at ease and I would look forward to it every day. I was just too scared to move forward." He paused to listen again and then continued. "I treated you like a friend because I didn't know how to move forward."

Suddenly, Gimpy noticed several Tekerson Tech students gathering around, Mump among them. "What? Don't you people have three dimensional holographic Star Wars prototypes to build or something?"

Mump stepped forward. "You heard him, people! Beat it!" When the crowd dispersed, Mump calmly walked away but shot back a few words to Gimpy. "I wish I could do more for you, sir."

As Gimpy watched him round the corner, he smiled and shook his head. "Silly Mump." He went back to talking at Carrie's door. "Carrie, I like you. I really do. And I'm sorry for treating you like just another fellow nerd. So if you don't come out in the next fifteen seconds, I'll leave you alone." He stood for a good thirty seconds before slowly walking away. He was just about to head downstairs when he saw Carrie racing from her room towards him. "Carrie!" He held his arms out to her.

She ran up to him, squeezing him tight and kissing him with all her pent up frustration and emotion.

* * *

"Anyway, I...I'm just frustrated with the situation more than anything." 

Jesse shifted on her bed and watched Nitz pace around from one end of her room to the other. "I see..." She couldn't think of anything more to say.

"I'm sorry, Jesse. You of all people don't want to hear about my problems with Kimmy."

"Hey, I'm the one who asked if you wanted to talk about it."

"So, you have any advice?"

Jesse let out a sigh. "Nitz, you know what I want. I have no right to give you advice."

"Jesse..."

"Hold on, I'll tell you what I think." She stood up and put her hands on Nitz's shoulders. "I think you should talk it over with her before making any sort of decision."

"Is that what you really think, Jesse?"

She looked into his eyes and removed his hat. "No." Without thinking, she pulled him close into a kiss.

* * *

The quick back-and-forth scene cuts were intentional as I tried to push things forward a bit. Not sure how I want to continue this, so it may be a while for the next update. Later UG fans!

KTF a.k.a. Xfox


End file.
